DPAA Identifies Record Number of Missing Service Members

The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency identified the remains of 250 service members missing from past conflicts in fiscal year 2026, surpassing its previous record of 231 set last year.  

The last identification was Army Capt. Albert P. Wilcox from California. He was a prisoner of war in the Philippines during World War II and was killed when the Japanese transport ship Enoura Maru was mistakenly sunk in 1945.

Wilcox’s remains were recovered after the war but couldn’t be identified. He was buried and marked as unknown at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Honolulu.  

In 2022, DPAA began the Enoura Maru Project to find unidentified remains associated with the ship and transfer them to its Hawaii laboratory for identification.  

Wilcox’s remains will be returned to his family, who will decide his final resting place.  

“The United States of America is resolved to never forget the warriors who answered the call to duty, made the supreme sacrifice and never came home,” said Secretary of War Pete Hegseth. “Through DPAA’s determined efforts, all 250 of these heroes will finally be home.” 

DPAA searches for, recovers and identifies Americans missing from past conflicts. These 250 accounted-for service members include 198 from World War II, 51 from the Korean War and one from the Vietnam War. Distributed among the branches of service, the identified service members are: 136 Army, 76 Army Air Forces, 20 Navy, 15 Marine Corps, one Air Force and two federal civilians. 

Every unaccounted-for service member or department civilian/contractor is entitled to one certainty: that he or she will not be forgotten. Operating in 54 countries around the world, the military and civilian professionals of DPAA are steadfastly committed to providing the fullest possible accounting of Americans missing from past conflicts to their families and the nation. 

“This is a deeply personal priority for me,” said Anthony J. Tata, undersecretary of war for personnel and readiness. “The Department of War will not rest in its efforts to bring home our unaccounted-for service members and provide the fullest possible accounting of all mission personnel.”